Echoes
by coffeeinanebula
Summary: Leia and the Resistance attempt diplomacy with the First Order, but Kylo Ren wants nothing but surrender.
The room was silent, not even their footsteps sounding on the unforgiving metal floor. Nothing reflected off the metal walls and the lights were dimmed, hints of red shining from somewhere. Kylo and Phasma stood on one side of the table, their faces obscured and rendered emotionless. General Hux stood a few steps behind them, his face as unreadable as the two Stormtroopers who stood beside him.

The doors slid open and General Organa entered, her footsteps soundless as she walked to the table and came to a stop across from her son. Finn and Rey followed her, Poe and Chewie just a few steps behind them. They lined the table, calmly facing the members of the First Order across from them.

"Take that mask off, Ben," Leia finally said, her voice firm. "I want to speak to my son."

No one moved, not even the gentle sounds of breathing could be heard until Kylo raised his hands to his mask. With an audible click, it slid free and he placed it on the table with the dull thunk of metal on metal. His face betrayed nothing, but Leia's emotions were plain on her face.

"Surrender to the First Order, General, or you will lose. The First Order cannot be defeated." Kylo leaned forward to press his hands against the table and his robe swayed, briefly revealing the hilt of his lightsaber.

Leia felt Luke's lightsaber press reassuringly against her hip, a blaster resting against her other side. She hoped neither would be necessary, that they could resolve this without violence. But she knew her son, knew the man he had become. Han had tried and—

She shook her head and felt Rey shift beside her. "We won't surrender," Leia told him. "We can resolve this other ways." She searched her son's unfamiliar face, unable to reconcile it with the young, brown-haired boy she remembered, with her son.

"Then you leave us no choice," Phasma interrupted and Kylo raised his hand to stop her.

"You're a monster! You killed your own father!" Rey shouted.

"Silence!" The word barely left Kylo's lips before he directed his hand toward Rey.

Rey gagged and held her hands to her throat as it closed, her body rising a few inches off the ground. Finn and Poe immediately reached for her, but there was nothing they could do. Leia kept her gaze pointedly on her son and the anger flaring across his face.

"Stop it," she commanded. "Stop this now, Ben."

"Ben is dead! Ben is gone!" The calmness that had encompassed Kylo previous was gone, replaced with seething anger that straightened his back and extended arm. "Your weak, pathetic son is gone and he's not coming back. Surrender now, or she'll be the first to die."

Rey's feet kicked feebly as she tried to find air and the ground, her eyes pleadingly looking between her friends and General Organa. Before she could react, Finn had his blaster out and aimed at Kylo.

"Let her go!"

"Finn!"

"Finn!"

Several voices rang out at once before everything fell into silence again. For the briefest of moments, no one moved or made a sound save for Rey's soft gasps for breath. After the moment passed, the room became a flurry of movement.

Finn fired and Kylo stopped the beam in the middle of the table. The shift in his focus caused Rey to crumple to the floor and Leia immediately stepped back. The sound of two activating lightsabers joined the din, blue and red lights lighting up the room.

The First Order and Resistance broke rank, spreading out across the room and quickly diving into combat. Finn and Chewie fired for cover while Poe tugged Rey to her feet, both of them ducking behind Leia and her lightsaber.

"General, duck!" Poe shouted, his blaster already raised and aimed just over Leia's shoulder.

She immediately ducked down and moved to her left as Poe fired. She didn't stop as she straightened up and defended a shot from an approaching Stormtrooper, her brother's lightsaber pulsing with energy in her hands. Behind her, Rey activated her own and lunged for General Hux who was attempting to retreat from the fight.

More Stormtroopers rushed into the room and obscured the Resistance members from each other, save for the flash of blue from Rey's and Leia's lightsabers. Leia ducked under the arm of a Stormtrooper and shoved the hilt into his back. He fell to the ground and she withheld a wince, turning to find Phasma just a few feet from her.

"Well, well, General." She took slow steps toward Leia, the area between them clear of anything living. Leia could see Rey and Kylo battling not far behind Phasma and heard Poe shouting behind herself. Her gaze was focused on Phasma and the lightsaber she held in her own hands. "How can the Resistance continue when it's lost its head?"

She lunged and Leia jumped back; she knew the perimeter of the room wasn't far behind her and she didn't want to get trapped against it. She could see the door across the room and knew she needed to get away from Phasma. The silver uniform lunged again and Leia could feel herself getting closer and closer to the wall.

Suddenly, she heard the throb of a lightsaber and Phasma lurched forward. With a backward jerk, she tumbled to the ground and Kylo stood behind her, his lightsaber still extended where Phasma had stood. She gasped on the ground and Leia stared at her son, horror and longing mixed in her expression.

At the sight of such treason, several Stormtroopers hurried toward Kylo and Leia, their blasters extended. Their firing couldn't be heard over the rest of the noise in the room, but the red light from their weapons was obvious as it hurtled in Kylo and Leia's direction. Kylo swung his lightsaber and deflected them, but a soft sound behind him caught his attention.

He swung his hand and knocked the Stormtroopers off their feet as he turned around; Leia leaned against the wall with her arms tightly clasped around her middle and a pained look on her face. Blood already seeped through her grey jumpsuit and spread across her hands and arms.

"Ben…" she whispered, her eyes seeking out his. Kylo dropped his lightsaber and the energy disappeared, leaving the room a little darker than it had been. The fight continued on as the two stared at each other, Leia sagging down the wall a bit with a pained groan. "I love you, Ben. My son."

Before he could get a word out, Leia's lightsaber fell from her hand and clattered to the floor. Her body followed, but her eyes stared out without seeing.

With an anguished yell, Kylo grabbed his family's lightsaber, the blue light immediately lighting up his face as he whipped around. His black robe slid across his mother's body before he stepped away, anguish contorting his features.

He lashed out at the first thing he came to, the lightsaber easily cutting through first one then another two Stormtroopers. At the sight, many of the remaining First Order members fled through the door, Kylo quickly pursing them. Their screams echoed back into the room as the Resistance members recovered, Finn and Poe leaning against the table while Rey rushed to Leia's side.

"General. General. Leia." She pressed her hand to the older woman's shoulder and Leia's body fell to its back. Rey gave a soft cry of despair and looked back toward Finn and Poe, her head shaking.

Chewie's loud roars filled and rocked the room before everything faded into silence once again, only the sounds of Kylo's revenge quietly echoing back to them.


End file.
